


Not Adopted

by argylemikewheeler



Series: Tumblr Re-posts [16]
Category: IT (2017), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, It Universe - Derry, M/M, Richie Tozier and Mike Wheeler Are Twins, The Upside Down, True Sight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-11-29 04:30:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18218228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argylemikewheeler/pseuds/argylemikewheeler
Summary: Eddie helps a very scared boy find his missing boyfriend. Along the way they happen to find a duplicate of his own boyfriend-- and a whole other dimension too





	1. Meeting Mike

“Would you hurry up, Eds. Jesus, I’m not getting any fucking younger over here.”

“I’m the one driving, so you better  _stop calling me_ , Richie.”

“I will once you pick me up. Bill is insufferable when he’s bored.”

“I think you mean  _you_ are.” Eddie corrected, trying not to pull on the phone cord as he wedged his shoes on.

“But he won’t stop telling me to sit  _down_. Eddie. Come on.” Richie begged. “While we’re young.”

“Okay okay. I’ll be right there.” Eddie placed the phone back on the wall and checked his pockets for his keys and wallet. He scribbled a note for his mother on the pad hanging by the phone:  _Picking up the guys. Don’t wait up_. High school had been just another wedge between Eddie and his mother– besides their polarizing cultural differences; the turn of the decade was proving to be a hardship for their already tense relationship.

As he approached his car, still squarely parked in the driveway, he checked the tires, tapping them with his shoes stiffly. The one incident junior year with a flat tire made Eddie paranoid there would be another railroad spike in the road or in his tire. He couldn’t drive without checking at least once. Or twice.

Richie was already with Bill that morning, ready for their trip downtown– spring break had already come to the point where they went downtown just to have something to do and all day to do it. Eddie backed out of his driveway, his mirrors adjusted and perfect, and began driving to Bill’s house. The drive was typically boring, a fine exercise in Point A to Point B driving. Nothing hard to remember, not even a traffic light to stop him. Eddie never really passed anyone on the road– especially not anyone on foot.

There was a boy, probably Eddie’s age, wandering along the edge of the street. The street was along the back of the neighborhood, the boy calling out into driveway alleys and empty patches of grass. He definitely didn’t go to school with Eddie or any of his friends. He couldn’t have been from Derry. Against his greater judgment and childhood instincts, Eddie pulled the car over.

“Hey, everything alright?” Eddie asked, cranking his window down. “You lost?”

“I–I’m looking for someone. We were walking around, trying to get that stuffy hotel air out of our heads, and then– then I turn around and I can’t find him! I swear he was right– MIKE! MIKE!” The boy didn’t even want to stop searching long enough to finish a full sentence. His eyes were naturally round but when with the whites of his eyes framing them as he stared out around him, they seemed to get bigger.

“Hey, I’m going downtown. Why don’t I drive you in and you can see if you see him?” Eddie offered, leaning over to open his passenger door. “I have to grab some friends, but then we’ll take you in. How’s that?”

“I have to find him.” The boy said quickly. “I have to find him.”

“You will. Come on.” Eddie hit the seat beside him and motioned for the boy to get inside. “I’m Eddie.”

“Will. Hi.” Will stuck out a shaking hand to Eddie, the two of them seemingly more scared of each other than the situation.

“So, what are you doing here?” Eddie asked, starting to drive again. “Derry, I mean. You said hotel, so I assumed you aren’t from here.”

“We’re not.” Will shook his head. “It was his idea for spring break– Maine, I don’t know. Him and Jonathan thought of it I guess– I don’t know. I don’t know!” Will muttered, looking out the window. He called Mike’s name out into the streets, scaring the people Eddie was passing on Bill’s street. As if Eddie wasn’t strange enough…

“Derry isn’t that big. You’ll find him.” Eddie offered comfort in the only way he knew how at the moment: vague uncertainty.

“No. I was doing some research before we came here and–”

“Don’t do that.” Eddie muttered. “Just… don’t. You’ll have a better time if you don’t.” Eddie had done his fair share of hiding newspapers and articles from any visiting relatives; if his name showed up anywhere, his entire family would turn into the Derry Police Department, asking one hundred and one questions all over again.

Will muttered a quiet agreement before rolling up his window. He crossed his arms as Eddie pulled up outside of Bill’s house. Eddie opened his car door, motioning for Will to stay put before marching up to Bill’s door.

“Bill! Open up!” Eddie called, not even close enough to knock. “I gotta talk to you.”

“Cuh-cuh-coming!” Bill’s voice answered from inside the house. Eddie tried not to look behind him at the boy sitting in his car. He tried not to make him any more nervous by being a suspicious set of eyes. “Let me grab my coat.” Bill said, opening his door to let Eddie in.

“It’s not that cold out.” Eddie said quickly. “You’ll be fine.”

“And risk a cold?” Richie teased, raising an eyebrow at Eddie. “What has gotten into you Eds?”

“Listen, I picked someone up from town.” Eddie continued, ignoring Richie and looking on at Bill.

“Jesus, Eddie. You don’t have to pay for it. Just ask, man.” Richie continued to nag Eddie anyway, pulling on his arm and tugging him through the doorway.

“Shut up, Re–Re–Richie.” Bill scolded, hitting him upside the head. Richie’s glasses fell off his nose and clattered to the ground by their feet. “What’s wrong with them?”

“He lost someone. I’m driving him into town to see if we spot him.” Eddie explained. “But he’s jumpy so just…  _don’t_ be a dick.” Eddie turned his head to Richie, still rubbing the back of his head, eyes squinting to find Bill in the blur.

“Mike!”

They all jumped at the loud cry at the foot of the porch stairs. Eddie stepped aside, trying to find the fourth person in the house. Richie continued squinting at Bill, who was still just trying to put on a damn coat.

“Mike, where the hell have you been? I turn around for one minute and you just take off? That’s  _not_ funny!” He apparently thought someone in the room was Mike, continuing the conversation as he marched up the steps. He locked eyes with Richie, who was making an expression misconstrued with disgust as he stared at Will walking towards him. “Don’t  _ever_ do that again.” He reached for Richie, hands grabbing his face and bringing the stranger’s face into Richie’s focus. Being nearsighted meant that Will was in  _perfect_ focus as he leaned in to kiss him.

“Whoa, whoa, what the fuck.” Richie cried, pushing Will’s hands away from his face. “Dude. Not that kind of fucking search party.”

“Mike, what are you talking about?”

“My name is  _Richie_.” He said slowly, tapping his chest. He reached down to grab his glasses, sliding them onto his nose to relieve his taunt expression. “Who the fuck is Mike?”

“Hanlon?” Bill asked. “Is that who you’re looking for?”

“Do I  _look_ like Mike?” Richie asked, waving his hands out to Bill. “Fucking idiot.”

Will looked at Richie with those same wide, scared eyes that had been glued to Eddie earlier. “You aren’t Mike. You aren’t Mike.”

“No fucking shit, buddy.”

“Why aren’t you Mike?” He asked, shaking his head. “Why aren’t you Mike? Why? What happened?” His breathing began to quicken, his eyes looking between the three of them rapidly. “It doesn’t have clones. No, we haven’t found any clones yet. That’s not… That’s not a  _thing_. She didn’t mention clones.”

“Clones?” Eddie echoed. Oh,  _good_ , he picked up an actual maniac and brought it into Bill’s house. “He’s not a clone, Will. I promise. Richie’s real.”

“I–I have to go. I have to go home.” Will backed out of the house slowly, still keeping his eyes fixed on Richie. “There aren’t supposed to be clones. No.”

“What is he talking about?” Bill asked, adjusting his coat lapels before following Will out of the house. “Where are you going?”

“MIKE! MIKE, WHERE ARE YOU?” He stood at the end of Bill’s driveway and began screaming, allowing pathetic silence after each call to wait for a response. “This isn’t funny, Mike. MIKE!”

“Should w–we help him?” Bill asked.

“On second thought, maybe we let him walk downtown.” Eddie muttered, watching the boy staggering down the street, screaming Mike’s name into every car window and every dark corner he passed. “If he’s right in any capacity… That means there are  _two_ of Richie. And I don’t think I want to find that.”

“Excuse me I am a fucking catch, Eddie. You  _know_ that.” Richie retorted, stepping closer to the door and onto the porch. “Now this I’ve  _gotta_ see.”

Before either Eddie or Bill could stop Richie, he took off after Will. They tried to chase him but didn’t want to seem like an ambush to the boy already shouting at Richie to get away from him. Richie didn’t seem to get the hint for another three blocks, the two of them nearly stumbling into hedges that surrounding the town’s park central.

“Would you stop fucking running? I’m trying to talk to you!”

“Get back!” Will screamed, holding both his arms back. “MIKE!” The entire park was beginning to stare at them; family’s having picnic’s, children on the swing sets, couples nestled on benches. “Don’t get any closer!” Will yelled, backing himself against a tree. A few men nearby began to advance towards them as the fear began to spread over the park. “MIKE!”

“I don’t know who you are looking for. Why don’t we take you to the police station?” Eddie offered, grabbing the collar of Richie’s shirt to stop him from inching further.

“Yeah, maybe they’ll put him back in the asylum he escaped from.” Richie scoffed, eyeing Will’s shaking hands as they gripped the tree bark pressing against his back. “He’s about a Richter Scale eight, man.  _Jesus fuck_.”

“Will, let’s get more people looking for your friend. How about that? How about–”

“MIKE!” Will cried again, pointing over Richie’s shoulder.

“No, dude. I’m  _Richie_.”

“Will!” A distant voice answered. “Oh my god, there you are.” Eddie turned to look past Richie, but somehow seemed to still be staring right at him. Someone looking  _exactly_ like Richie was running up to Will, oblivious to anyone else around him. “I’m sorry. I wandered for a second and thought I would circle back but then– I don’t know what happened!”

“I was so worried!” The two collided and held onto each other in a way that Richie was sure to make quiet gagging noises about. Eddie couldn’t help but know what that kind of high-intense relief felt like. He was happy there was someone out there to calm Will down.

While Eddie and Richie were noticing their own observations about the endearing couple, Bill seemed to be the only one with a brain in the matter, tapping the boys harshly and pointing.

“Uh, is everyone else suh-suh-seeing double?” He asked quietly. “That kid looks exactly like Richie.”

“He does  _not_.” Richie scoffed.

“Get a better prescription.” Eddie responded, siding with Bill. “You can’t read the goddamn  _E_.”

“Guys, God doesn’t make more than one man in perfect image.” Richie sighed. “It’s like, in the bible.”

Bill and Eddie sighed before looking back at the two boys. Will was whispering to Mike, holding his hand tightly in his own and slowly peering back over towards them. Mike was frozen, locking his focus on the boy convinced that the ice cream stand down the street was far more interesting.

“R–Richie?”

“That’s my name.” He responded, yawning. Mike approached them with timid steps, still clutching Will’s hand.

“Mom… Mom said you died.” Mike breathed, his lip quivering.  _Wait, what_?

“ _Whom_?” Richie asked, turning his head to put his ear closer to Mike.

“Wait…  _that’s_ the kid from the picture?” Will asked quietly, his lips parting as he gasped in surprise.

“What photo?” Eddie asked. “Of Richie?”

Mike was still struck by silence, Will cutting in for him. “There’s this polaroid in Mike’s house… I always thought it was a friend from daycare or something. They were both so young. I couldn’t tell but, I see it now.”

“See  _what_?” Richie asked, throwing his hands up.

“We’re twins.” Mike said.

“I am not adopted.” Richie said shortly. “There’s no way.”

“Your back.” Mike said. “There’s a scar there, right? On your left shoulder?” Richie slowly moved his hand to his shoulder and answered him silently. “I have one too. We were fused together just on the shoulder. They cut us apart and then you went to your other parents.”

“I am  _not_ adopted!” Richie yelled, pointing at Mike.

“R–Richie! You have dark curly hair and buh-both of your parents are platinum blond!” Bill cried, waving his arms out to Mike. “He’s your brother!”

“Oh my god.” Mike whispered, a lifetime of curiosity and denial washing away from Mike’s tense expression. He stepped forward, taking in Richie with new, hopeful eyes. Will stood beside him, squeezing his hand and grinning between the two of them.

“Oh my  _god_.” Richie sighed, groaning. “I  _am_ adopted!”

“ _RICHIE_!”


	2. Gaining True Sight

Richie was on his third cup of coffee. He really shouldn’t have been. Every doctor his mother had dragged him to sternly advised against any caffeine. He could barely keep his body still as it was, but with his third cup and new-found twin brother sitting across from him in the diner’s booth, there were no chances his hands were going to be steady.

“Slow down, Richie. You’re going to send yourself into cardiac arrest.” Eddie said, placing his hand over the top of the mug as he lifted it to his lips. “Seriously.”

“It’s either this or I’m breaking into the Tozier liquor cabinet.” Richie muttered, looking at Eddie. “Do you want to push me to the bottle, Eds?” Eddie lifted his hand with a sigh.

Over his mug, Richie looked at the three boys across the table from them. Bill was sitting on the outside, squinting at a specials menu across the room and muttering them under his breath. He was stuttering so much, Richie thought he was cold by the way his teeth were chattering. Next to him was a stranger, sixteen years old at his oldest, Richie thought, eyes wide as he looked between the other boys at the table. He was small, like Eddie had been when they were younger but without the growth spurt. He was holding the hand of the other stranger at the table. The one that looked exactly like Richie. His twin. He was better looking, Richie thought, looking at his hair hang with far more discipline than the curls bouncing all over his own face. He didn’t have Richie’s embarrassing glasses with the half-inch thick prescription. No wonder their parents wanted Mike instead of him; they made the right choice.

“Cuh-Can I ask you something?” Bill asked, trying to manage the silence. “Did you know Richie lived here?”

“No!” Mike answered, shaking his head. “Mom said Richie was… gone.”

“Why would she say I was fucking dead!” Richie cried.

“ _Richie_ , inside voice.” Eddie hissed.

“No, I’m serious. What kind of mother gives up one twin and then tells the other he’s dead!” Richie wanted to know the truth. He knew half the shit that came out of his mouth was shit anyway, but this time he was serious. He wanted to know why he was left behind. Why no one bothered to tell him he was a part of some bigger picture.

“She said you were sick.” Mike muttered, the words unambiguous as he looked at Richie, bad eyesight and scrambled brain staring back at him.

“Sick.” Richie repeated. “They thought I was going to be a goddamn mutant or something? Fuck, I wish I was. Then maybe I could feel better about this.”

“Richie, come on.” Eddie said, sliding his arm under Richie’s to hold his hand. “It’s not like that.”

“No, Eddie. It is. It is that.” Richie argued. “Listen, your mom fucking lied to you to say you were a half skip away from the grave at all times. Imagine  _that_ but… instead your mom just decided you’d be better dead. She just left you. Gave you to some other family because you were going to be too much of a hassle!” Richie couldn’t believe that his mother– his  _real_ mother– could have predicted before birth he’d end up such a fucking mess. He couldn’t blame her for giving him up.

“It’s not like she forgets you. We have that picture of you on the mantle. Next to Baby Holly.” Mike tried to comfort Richie, but kept making things worse.

“Holly?”

“That’s my little sister… She’s not much of a baby anymore.” Mike smiled. “She’s your sister too! Nancy too!”

“Wait.” Richie said, placing his coffee cup down. He let his hand fall below the table and grab Eddie’s hand. “You have a younger sister?”

“Yeah.” Mike nodded, furrowing his eyebrows at the intensity of Richie’s tone.

“Your mom had another kid.” Richie said. “Our mom got rid of me because I was supposed to be some goddamn  _handicap or something…_ but then had another kid.”

“Richie.” Eddie said, squeezing his hand. “You don’t know what happened.” He was trying to calm Richie down without stepping on any of his wild-fire emotions, flaring up and growing with every breath. “Maybe… Maybe it’s different.”

“Yeah! Muh-muh-maybe things were more complicated.” Bill reached across the table and placed his hand on the table, Richie releasing Eddie’s for a moment to take it. “Mike?”

“Oh, I don’t remember anything.” He said, shrugging. “My mom just always said that Richie was sick, he wasn’t going to live that long after they cut us apart, so they sent him to a foster family… to be well taken care of.”

“What am I? An old, dying dog?” Richie scoffed. “I can’t stand this shit. Eddie, let me out of the booth.”

“Richie, I drove you.” Eddie said, trying to coax him to stay.

“Edward. Get out of my goddamn way.” Richie demanded. “I don’t want to fight with you today, babe. Move.” Eddie looked at Richie with the same eyes that held the ability to melt him and make his entire world fade away. In that moment, they made Richie feel isolated and cold.

He hadn’t meant to fight with Eddie. Eddie was the only thing that was making any remote sense at that point to Richie. His entire life in Derry had been a lie and Richie had little to no hard time believing it, except with it came to Eddie. With Eddie, Richie almost refused to believe he was meant to have another life. Eddie fit perfectly, it made sense. It was Richie’s only reassurance that he wasn’t a complete fuck up. But to learn that it was a fluke? Richie couldn’t accept it. He loved Eddie. That couldn’t change.

Eddie slid out of the booth and let Richie stand, slamming change from his pocket on the table before storming out. Behind him, Richie heard the rest of the group bickering and trying to mobilize just before the diner door slammed behind him. Eddie’s car was at the end of the lot facing away from the glass diner windows. Richie had no other way to get home, so he sat on the trunk, feet resting on the bumper. Across the lot, Bill came walking out of the diner. Richie had expected Eddie first.

“What do you want, Bill.” Richie asked, sitting back and crossing his arms. “I am not going back in there.”

“I d-d-don’t blame you.” Bill said, reaching Richie and resting a hand on the trunk. “But take it easy on them. Maybe?”

“I just don’t understand, Bill.” Richie muttered, letting his arms drop to his sides. Bill reached forward and took his hand again. “I thought my parents loved me.”

“Being adopted doesn’t muh-muh-mean that they don’t.” Bill said. “And you don’t know about Mike’s parents–  _your parents_ – had going on. Maybe they’ll be happy to hear y-you’re doing okay!” Bill grinned, trying to lighten Richie’s mood, but the sentiment fell flat. Richie’s birth parents would not be pleased to know that he and Mike met. They wouldn’t be happy to know that he’s alive. Another person that would be better off if he was dead. The list kept getting longer– he was running out of arm’s reach.

“Richie! Wait.” Mike was walking out of the diner, Will and Eddie behind him. He was nearly in a run, not even slowing when he saw Richie stationary and slumped on Eddie’s car, keys in the other boy’s back pocket. “Maybe we can call my parents– our parents!”

“No. I’d rather not.” Richie said, standing and waving Eddie to the car. “I want to go home to my fake parents, to my fake house, with my fake hometown, and pretend that I wasn’t  _fucking fused_ to someone at birth. Like some goddamn medical mutant.”

“Would you stop.” Mike begged, reaching out and grabbing Richie’s arm.

His fingers wrapped around Richie’s forearm and the world faded away. Not in the way it happened with Eddie, it was much faster. The entire world turned black, echoing reality in shadows and warped versions of the buildings around them. Mike and everyone else disappeared from his vision, a strong, invisible grip keeping Richie frozen in place as he stared up at the cloud-filled, rumbling sky. There were particles, little white  _things_ , floating in front of Richie’s eyes like particles of the old Earth floating up to the sky. It all seemed like he had blacked out as soon as Mike touched him, but his eyes had kept a residual image of the town around him as his eyes closed.

“Fuck!” Richie screamed, yanking his arm downward, away from the ghosted touch. His vision returned and he was able to see Mike’s hand again, retracted from Richie’s body. Eddie touched his shoulder and Bill was staring at him with wide eyes. Mike looked offended, but Will looked frightened, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Richie, who was beginning to sweat. “Did anyone else see that?”

“See what?” Mike asked.

“Richie, did you see something?” Eddie asked frantically, looking around. He was trying to find something far different than what Richie saw; he was looking for stray balloons, drops of blood, the rushing of bright colors. If he was looking, he didn’t see it.

“You did see that? All that black?” Richie asked, waving his hand out to the world that had seemed to drop away just a moment before. “It was gone!”

“Gone?” Bill echoed, cocking his head. “What’s that suh-supposed to mean?”

“Black?” Will asked, looking at Richie with the same narrowed eyes, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“Yeah! Like, everything just kind of turned all opposite. It was like a fucking shadow town. You didn’t see that?” Richie knew what he saw. There was no way he had made that up. It was his mouth that spewed the bullshit, not his eyes.

“I didn’t see anything.” Eddie said. “Are you sure it wasn’t something else?”

“Positive.” Richie said, looking at Eddie and trying to find the lost comfort in his eyes. “I know what I saw, Eds.”

“Was it cloudy?” Will asked, his voice trying to reach Richie carefully. He was hesitant, but with enough confidence to know he was right. Richie nodded. “And none of us were here?”

“What are you talking about?” Eddie demanded, jerking his head to stare at Will. “We were all right here!”

“Mike.” Will said slowly, turning to look at the boy beside him. “Dark? Clouds and storms? Separate reality? That’s awfully familiar.” Will spoke grimly, the other three boys left in the dark, although Richie was mostly blind at that point.

“Oh shit.” Mike breathed, whipping his head to stare at Richie. He reached out to grab Richie’s arm again, the world flickering away like a bad bulb before Mike retracted his hand and granted Richie the world back. “True Sight.”


	3. A Calling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What the fuck is True Sight? Richie sure as hell doesn’t know and doesn’t trust it. Well, he wouldn’t if it wasn’t for the fact he had every reason and feeling telling him he had found a missing half-- after thinking he was complete the whole time.

“Run it by me  _one_ more time.” Richie asked, taking off his glasses and pinching his nose. He was sitting on the back of Eddie’s car again, unable to stand and comprehend the unfolding events at the same time. Only  _one_  miracle at a time.

“True Sight.” Mike repeated. “It’s like, seeing into a different dimension.”

“I can barely see with the eyes in my fucking head and you’re telling me I can see a whole other goddamn world?” Richie cried, pointing at his face. “I don’t know what kind of joke this is, but I’m not laughing.”

“It’s not a joke, Richie.” Will pleaded. “You have to believe me. I’ve been there.”

“Been where? Another  _dimension_? A-Are you joking?” Richie coughed out a laugh. “I mean, you’re high, right?”

“N-No.” Will said, looking at Richie with a confused face. “No.”

“You have to be. This is insane. First, I’m a fucking twin and now I’m what? A fucking psychic?”

“It doesn’t tell the future. It’s the present, just, in The Upside Down.” Mike explained, waving a hand at Richie, trying to clear his mind of the false assumptions like a fly in his vision.

“The what?” Richie laughed again. “Okay, so  _that’s_ made up.”

“It’s what Eleven called it!” Mike cried, defending himself. He didn’t seem to find the main oddity in his sentence so Richie let him have it, choosing to stand up and leave everyone standing around Eddie’s car. “Hey, where are you going?” Mike reached out and grabbed onto Richie. In an instant the world switched to black, the street cracking under his feet and slime sliding down the bumper of Eddie’s car.

“Hey! Stop doing that!” Richie screamed, trying to pull his arm out of the invisible grip around his arm. He took a step forward, hoping to slip out of it, but the grip followed. “Stop it! Stop it!”

“Richie?” It was Eddie, but he sounded an entire room away, like he was standing on the second floor of a building and speaking down to him. “Mike, what’s happening?”

“He’s seeing it.”

“Stop! I don’t want to! This isn’t fucking cool, man. Stop!” Richie turned to stare at Mike, or rather where he should have been, but instead saw a towering, swirling tunnel of black smoke. It hovered over Eddie’s car, its gusts of wind breaking the windows in a terrifying silence. It would be like screaming into a vacuum. No one would hear Richie. “What the fuck is that! Hey, stop! Let go of me!” The smoke shifted and slid like a snake, coiling around Richie’s feet. He started screaming, without words and without any restraint. He wasn’t sure if they’d ever hear him. “Stop, I don’t want to see this! Stop it, Mike! Stop!”

Finally, in a flash of blinding sunlight, the world around Richie returned. Eddie was in front of him, shoving Mike backwards. Bill was holding Richie’s other arm, but he didn’t notice until his eyes fell on the boy’s hand; his body was still gaining sensation as his eyes adjusted to the bright light.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to stop!” Eddie cried, placing a hand on Richie’s arm firmly, although hesitant to what would flash before his eyes at his touch. The world stayed same.

“Drive me home.” Richie ordered, turning and going towards the car. “Take me home  _now_.”

“Sure, sure.” Eddie nodded, agreeing with Richie demands. “Of course.”

“No, wait! We need to understand this!” Mike cried.

“No! I don’t care about the fucking Topsy-Turvy or the fucking Up Your Ass! I don’t care! I’ve had it to my fucking eyeballs-- the ones that see  _reality_ \-- in this weird intergalactic shit. I don’t care. I don’t want it. I don’t fucking care!” Richie screamed, nearly touching noses with Mike. “You didn’t want me before you found out I can fucking hallucinate in goddamn  _negatives_ , but the minute I’m useful, you want me. So much for being my fucking twin.”

“That’s it!” Will cried, waving his hand out and cutting the tension between Richie and Mike. “The fusion.” Richie looked at the small boy through half-lidded eyes, barely able to listen.

“The  _what_.”

“You guys were connected at birth. And Mike, remember when you were in the tunnels? What happened?”

“I got attacked on my way out. A vine got me.” Mike shrugged. Richie laughed, turning to look at Bill and Eddie, making sure they shared his expression. “So?”

“I-It must have wanted  _you_ next. But you don’t have True Sight; Richie does! He’s missing.” Will exclaimed, waving his arms out. Eddie blinked at him slowly and Bill was holding his temples, sitting on the back of Eddie’s car.

“T-T-This is ridiculous.” Bill muttered, shaking his head.

“No, Will. I was  _dead_. They said I was dead. Nice bullshitting though. Become a novelist, kid. Make good money.”

Richie rolled his eyes and went back to Eddie’s car. He climbed into the passenger seat without another word, waiting for Bill to climb in the back and Eddie to get into the driver’s seat. He wanted to go home--  _home_? What the fuck was that now. Richie hadn’t even met his biological parents. The impostors standing around his house would only make Richie feel worse. “I call a sleepover, Eddie. I fucking need it.”

“Why don’t I drive you home-”

“And  _where_ is that exactly?” Richie said, arms crossed. He watched Mike and Will disappear in the side mirror, unable to feel anything but a tug growing in his chest.

* * *

 

Bill was asleep on the floor while Richie and Eddie struggled to fit on Eddie’s childhood twin mattress. Eddie was quietly snoring but Richie was staring up at the ceiling and what was left of the glow-in-the-dark stars taped above them. It was too dark for Richie to feel safe. He kept thinking he’d open his eyes and be in the Down place Mike was talking about--  _lying_ about. Richie knew he had to be lying. That place couldn’t have been real. It sounded like a bad trip, some fever dream or a drug hallucination. Richie wasn’t missing from Mike. Nobody ever missed Richie.

“Richie.” Eddie mumbled. “It feels like I’m sleeping with a dead body.” He tapped Richie on the chest lightly. “Relax.”

“I can’t.” Richie confessed, reaching for his glasses on the night table. “I can’t stop thinking about that shit.”

“It’s all a lie. Go to sleep, baby.” Eddie’s speech was slurred but his words were sincere. “It’s nothing.”

Richie stirred, his feet kicking up the blankets. “But I  _know_ what I saw.”

“Wha?” Eddie muttered.

“Nothing.” Richie said, placing a hand on Eddie’s hand and pressing him into his shoulder. “It’s nothing.”

Richie couldn’t shake the ice cold chill still tickling his skin. He wasn’t sure what he saw, but it wasn’t as much as a mirage as he had hoped-- he could still feel the tickling atmosphere in his throat, like he was smoking his first cigarette all over again. The deafening silence that wrapped him up, making him swallow his screams like a potent sleeping pill. The black smoke that was without eyes but seemed to see Richie and track his movements. Mike was the only thing he could really feel when the world was volatile and black and oozing with slime. Mike was the only thing that grounded him. Richie belonged to something, to someone in a far bigger way than a date to prom and a hand to hold under tables. Richie completed something. He wasn’t as forgettable as he had been that morning, just trying to wander downtown with his boyfriend and childhood friend, hand in hand. Richie had a  _family_.

“Eddie.” Richie said, slowly slipping his arm out from under his body. “Eddie, I have to go.”

“What? Where are you going?” Eddie asked, slapping the mattress, trying to find Richie’s body again.

“Home.” Richie said, grabbing his jeans from the end of the bed and slipping them on.

“Richie, what? No. It’s late. Wait until morning.” Eddie insisted, pushing up on his elbows.

“I at least have to see Mike. I don’t know what’s going on.” Richie stepped carefully around Bill. “And I don’t intend to lie around oblivious anymore.”

“Richie, wait!” Eddie clambered out of bed and chased Richie out into the hallway. “You don’t know what he’s hiding.”

“What does that mean?” Richie asked. No one was more suspicious than Richie, all possible outcomes considered. Well, most of the typical ones.

“Aren’t you tired of chasing bad news?” Eddie sighed, grabbing Richie by the shoulders. “Richie, please, don’t do this. It’s not worth it.”

“How do you know that?” Richie sighed, not stopping as he continued to tuck his shirt into his jeans. “Maybe I can help! Maybe I’m meant for this.”

“Meant for what? More world saving! That’s not up to you, Richie! Please!” Eddie was whispering as to not wake his mother, but he was desperate, gripping Richie’s shirt like he was wiling to tear it and Richie’s persistence to shreds. “Baby, please.”

“I have... True Sight.” Richie said, the words trying to break through his teeth as he struggled to confess. “I have to help. I have to be good for  _something_.”

“Richie--”

“I’ll be back later.” Richie said firmly. “Tell my foster parents I’ll be back later.”


	4. Chapter 4

Richie was thankful Derry had a very forgiving nature when it came to suspicious behavior. He was able to go directly into three different hotels and ask point-blank the room numbers of guests, and no one asked any questions. He was able to find Will and Mike’s room within the hour he left Eddie’s house and was standing outside of it, hand raised to the door, running through every possible thing to say before even knocking. **  
**

He thought he had finally figured it all out when the door swung out from under his hand. Both he and Will jumped at the appearance of the other.

“What are you doing?” Will gasped, clutching his chest. “Jesus, Richie.”

“I was coming to talk to you guys… Hi.” Richie waved awkwardly at Will, like they needed a new introduction. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah. I guess.” Will said, stepping aside. “Mike? Your brother’s here.” The bed sheets began to move and a matted head of hair rolled towards them on the pillows.

“Richie?” He groaned, eyes squinted. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I wanted to talk to you.” Richie said, stepping inside. He shut the door behind him. “I’m ready to listen. To all of it.”

“Are you sure?” Will said, looking at Mike. Mike sat up further in the bed and ran a hand through his hair. It was just as unruly and mad-scientist as Richie’s. It was strange seeing himself in someone else; he was used to staring at his parents and seeing straight, bleached hair.

“Yeah. Family shit aside.” Richie said. “What do you think it--  _they_ \-- need me for?” Richie wasn’t even sure who he was talking about. Was it even a  _who_? He watched his own fear of disappearance manifest before his very own eyes; a few weird conversations were going to be nothing.

“A-Are we really the people to explain all of this?” Will said, Mike considering the question and chewing his lip. He groaned, the two of them sharing thoughts without words.

“Maybe we can call everyone in the morning, but I think we know enough.” Mike said. “I don’t want to wake El and ask her about it this late.”

“Is that Eleven?” Richie asked, remembering the name. A number was hard to forget. His brain bounced to the idea that having such a name could be pretty fucking metal, before he yanked himself back to the topic at hand. Focusing was even harder when he didn’t want to do it. “Who the fuck is that?”

“My sister.” Will said, pulling a chair out from the hotel desk and offering it to Richie. As Richie sat, he sat next to Mike on the bed. “Well, step-sister. But she’s not even related to her dad.”

Richie blinked at them. “How the hell does that work?”

“Kind of how you do.” Mike answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “But like, not really.”

“Oh. Adopted.” They weren’t even going to say the word.

“Stolen, actually.” Will said. “She was used for science experiments.”

“Oh  _shit_.” Richie said. “That’s fucked man.” And not what Richie went through. Well, actually it would probably explain a lot--

“She’d probably agree with you.” Will laughed, although he ended with a heavy sigh. “She was basically forced to open the gate to the Upside Down. And then close it again.”

“So she’s… an alien?” Richie was trying to follow, but comic books could only make him so smart. “Or like, what?”

Will and Mike exchanged a look. “Uh, we’ll get back to you.” Mike said. “But, she’s one of the only ones we know that can go between here and the Upside Down.”

“Except for me. But that isn’t a power. That was a fluke, kind of.” Will shrugged.

“Possession. Not a fluke.” Mike corrected.

“Yeah, I guess--”

“I’m sorry. Rewind:  _possession_?” Richie repeated. “Please don’t tell me we’ve got a whole goddamn Exorcist plot line in here too. Dude I fucking hated that movie.” Will sat silent, rolling his lips inward. “Oh fuck.”

“We figured it out though. We fixed it.” Mike insisted. “Will’s fine now.” He placed an arm around the boy and grinned. They leaned their heads together and Richie couldn’t help but want Eddie there with him. He wanted his own comfort, but he also knew bringing him along for this ride wasn’t fair to him. His mom already hated him and Richie together as it was. Going MIA for an undetermined amount of time wasn’t going to help anyone. Maybe Richie should have asked Bill; both their parents would have just shrugged at their children's empty beds.

Richie began to wring his wrists, fingers running over familiar protruding bones and scars. Richie never remembered any of them, but his parents--foster parents-- said he was a trouble child and his entire body was aching proof.

“Will and El are pretty much the only two people who know what it looks like. And then there’s you.” Mike explained. He grabbed Will’s hand and Richie never felt more alone, sitting and having to hold his own.

“And you.” Richie said. “I’ve never seen it before you. I’ve never seen any of that shit before in my entire life.”

“Not once?” Will asked, eyebrows furrowing. “Nothing with lights? Radios? Static?”

“What do I look like? A defective Radio Shack? No. My life has been relatively normal for the most part. Some weird things cropping up, but nothing like  _that_.”

“Why can’t I see it?” Mike sounded deflated, like he was missing out. “That could have saved everyone.”

“Blame Mom and Dad.” Richie scoffed, crossing his legs on the chair. He placed his arms over his legs, still twisting his wrist between his thumb and forefinger. “Why did they do that, anyway?”

“They said you were sick. Taken to a foster family to be taken care of. I don’t remember anything from then, but the stories are all kind of vague. A lot of doctors and stuff. But by then, mom said you had passed.” Mike shrugged. “Or else I would have come looking for you.”

“I don’t remember any goddamn doctors.” Richie said. He remembered eye doctors, ones treating his broken arm when he was younger. He must’ve seen others for all his cuts and bruises, but not a single one stuck in his mind. Any memories was of white rooms, but that could really be anything. He assumed he just had a very boring daycare. “Not one.” He continued to twist his arms.

“I don’t want understand, Richie. I don’t know why they gave you to them if you weren’t sick. I don’t understand.” Mike sighed, shaking his head. His curls flopped around and Richie had to laugh; they were identical to his own. He could think of at least one person who had the same hands as him; he could pretend he was holding his brother since he technically couldn’t without transporting dimensions. “I can’t believe they did that.” He leaned his head on Will’s shoulder, and Will leaned back, but his eyes were focused on Richie’s arms resting on his lap.

“What happened to your arm?” Will asked, pointing at it bluntly. There was a lot to question.

“Uh, I don’t know.” Richie muttered. “They’ve been there so long I thought they were birthmarks as a kid.” Some were new and Richie remembered putting them there, but he was willing to lie. “Void Mom and Dad said I was a fucking tornado. Which I believe.”

“That... That looks like a burn, Richie.” Will said, leaning forward and touching the rough, red skin.

“Okay, Unsolved Mysteries, get back to answering the questions at hand.” Richie yanked his arm away like it burned but the skin  had been numb for years. “I’ve had that since I was a kid. Mom said I burned it playing with matches.”

“Your arm? Not your hands.” Mike raised the question with a raised eyebrow. “Sounds like shit to me.” Richie glared and tucked his arm against his chest.

“You know,” Will said to Mike with a chuckle. “It reminds me of El’s new tattoo. Same place too. God, why  _didn’t_ we bring her?”

“Because this was a couple’s vacation?” Mike responded. “And I’m done dating your sister.”

“Wait. El has one just like this?” Richie pointed at his burn. First someone with the same face, now the same deformities?

“No. She has a tattoo-- a little butterfly. She won’t tell any of us what the hell it means, but she really loves it.” Mike grinned. “It’s covering her number. Her name.”

“Eleven.” Richie repeated. “It was tattooed on her?”

“There was obviously more than one.” Will said solemnly. “They kept track of each one.”

“What the fuck.” Richie breathed. “And she was made to... what? be a liaison for all this weird shit?”

“Listen, that whole lab is… it’s messed up.” Mike said roughly. “Stole her from her own mother.”

“Huh, know how that feels.” Richie was barely wrapping his head around the idea, but he already had the feeling he’d have a lot in common with that Eleven kid. Although it sounded like she had a better grip on her world than Richie did at the moment; he was too busy twisting his wrists to hold it correctly and with steady hands. Will was still staring. “Dude, would you fucking stop staring like that. You’re the strangers here-- I shouldn’t feel like this is freshman homeroom for fuck’s sake.”

“Sorry.” Will distracted himself by looking at the ceiling. “Sorry.”

“Can I ask a question now?” Richie said, crossing and then recrossing his legs. “What does The Upitty--”

“Upside Down.”

“Yeah. What does it do?” Richie asked. “Like. What does seeing it mean for me? What do I do with this fucking second pair of eyes?” Will and Mike looked at each other with half-finished sentences passing between the two of them. “That’s  _not_ comforting.”

“It’s just the opposite of this world. It’s dark and and controlling and vengeful. The fact you can see it from here has got to be a good thing.” Will offered, his eyes still trying to admire the room’s decor rather than that on Richie’s arms.

“A good thing?” Mike echoed, staring at him. “How can you say that? That’s my brother. I wouldn’t wish--” Brother. Already, Richie had been absorbed into Mike’s life, something he considered an extension of himself. He came to his defense. He didn’t even know Richie’s last name.

“It’s okay. I--I don’t mind.” Richie wasn’t sure what he was excusing, but the explosion of feelings seemed imminent on either end of the conversation and he was eager to reserve that for himself. “I can be a mutant with powers, I guess.”

“El will be able to explain things so much easier.” Mike said. “We’ll call her tomorrow. She can tell you her whole story beginning to end-- she can do that now.” He sounded proud. “She picked up curses from Hop so she tells the ‘Papa’ parts very well now.”

Richie grabbed his arms and felt himself become exposed, even under his clothes. His skin felt tight and itchy. “Papa.” The word had been hiding under Richie’s tongue for years, unfurling and flying from between his teeth involuntarily.

“Yeah.” Mike said. “Papa.” He looked at Richie with narrowing eyes. “Richie, you good?”

“Yeah.” Richie couldn’t tell from where that word had uncovered itself. He was on a first name basis only with his foster dad; Wentworth was just so much cooler sounding than  _Dad_. “That just sounds really familiar... Guess I called Wentworth that before, well, Wentworth.”

“You call your dad by his first name?” Will asked.

“Yeah, I never felt like Dad worked, and he never corrected me.”

“Wentworth.” Mike echoed. “Sounds like a mad-scientist.”

“He’s a fucking dentist.” Richie laughed, wondering what his real dad did for a living. Fuck, what if his real dad was  _worse_? “Although, after all the shit you were saying, growing up in a lab doesn’t sound half bad.” After so many doctor’s appointments, Richie kind of felt like he did. The two boys were obviously well-loved boys, blinking at Richie with concern. Richie shifted the conversation quickly, clearing his throat. “I can’t wait to meet El.”

“You’ll love her.” Will smiled, his excitement bubbling as he reached over and touched Richie’s knee. Mike reached over too, but placed his own hand on Will’s, careful of contact with his brother. “God, you’ll have  _so_ much in common.”

**Author's Note:**

> [The Rebloggable Post!](https://argylemikewheeler.tumblr.com/post/168137604950/not-adopted-richie-mike-twins)


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